Best conditions for young scientists

The Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Germany will receive two new research training groups, the German Research Foundation (DFG) announced on 9 May 2022. The research training groups, which will officially start at the beginning of 2023, are expected to receive funding of over 12 million euros over the next five years. Jena scientists are also involved in another research training group, the second phase of which has been approved. The research training groups will investigate questions of material science, philology and intellectual history, and ecology.

"It is a great success to directly receive two new research training groups in this competitive procedure of the DFG," says Prof. Dr Georg Pohnert, Vice President for Research at the University of Jena. This is proof of the expertise and extraordinary commitment of all the researchers involved in the proposals. The University's strategy of focusing its research on the themes of "Light, Life, Liberty"External link is thus once again confirmed. "The new research training groups fit perfectly with our profile lines and are characterised by their current interdisciplinary and viable topics and the convincing concepts. This leads to a gain for research at the University of Jena and the participating doctoral students, postdocs and established researchers," Pohnert is convinced.

Materials-Microbe-Microenvironment

Researchers from physics, chemistry, biology, clinical medicine and microbiology at the University of Jena and the University Hospital (UKJ) are involved in the new Materials Science and Medicine Research Training Group (GRK) 2723 on material-microbe-microenvironments. They want to develop a customised platform of antimicrobial biomaterials to better prevent biomaterial-associated infections, such as those that can occur in bone implants. Until now, such biomaterial-associated infections have been treated by surgical procedures in combination with long-term antibiotic therapy. In order to reduce the use of antibiotics and, above all, the burden on the patients affected, the RTG "Materials-Microbe-Microenvironment: Antimicrobial biomaterials with tailored structures and properties" (M-M-M) aims to develop a material platform based on different nano-structured materials and transfer it to clinical use. An important role is played by advanced optical methods that help to elucidate complex, multifactorial interaction mechanisms of biomaterials, cells and microbes. The corresponding equipment and the necessary know-how are available in Jena.

"The research necessary for the success of the project will be dealt with in six interdisciplinary tandem projects with two doctoral students each, who will deal with complementary material and medical science aspects in each project, supervised by a tandem of materials science and medicine," explains materials expert Prof. Dr Klaus Jandt, who is the spokesperson of the new research training group together with medical scientist Prof. Dr Bettina Löffler. An interdisciplinary qualification programme for the doctoral students is a fundamental component of the research training group. "M-M-M forms a joint communication platform for materials science and medicine that promotes understanding of the other discipline and thus enables creative approaches and solutions," says Prof. Löffler, describing the benefits for research and the young researchers involved.